Early Monday morning is not the time to stream a much-expected film on OTT platforms. But 83, the film on arguably Indian cricket's greatest moment --- the title triumph at the 1983 Prudential World Cup --- began streaming on two OTT platforms --- Disney + Hotstar and Netflix --- from around mid-night last night.
The film could not begin streaming during the weekend as it had to contend with last-minute legal drama.
Eventually, the Bombay High Court rejected a plea by production house Mad Man Film Ventures seeking a stay on the movie’s OTT and satellite release.
'Mad Man' had filed a suit against Reliance Entertainment Studios, Phantom Films, Star India (which owns Disney+ Hotstar), Netflix Global and sought to stop the small-screen release of 83. But the Bombay High Court did not find any merit in the plea.
The film, directed by Kabir Khan, and headlined by Ranveer Singh (playing the charismatic and talismanic captain Kapil Dev), delayed by more than a year due to the pandemic, managed to hit the cinema halls only in the last week of December 2021.
Pretty late in making it to the streamers
Are we in a stadium coz we can hear fans cheering! 😍#83 is now streaming in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. #83onHotstarWatch it now:- https://t.co/gtye2sWY2T pic.twitter.com/M0y7Efroh8March 20, 2022
No other new release in recent times had taken so much time to reach the streamers. 83 is now available on both Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar. Aside from Ranveer Singh, the film has, among others, Deepika Padukone, Jiiva, Pankaj Tripathi, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Saqib Saleem, Harrdy Sandhu in the cast.
The film is produced by Deepika Padukone, Kabir Khan, Vishnu Vardhan Induri, Sajid Nadiadwala, Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Reliance Entertainment, and 83 Film Ltd.
The Hindi version of 83 was expected to go to Netflix, while Disney+ Hotstar was to get the other language versions. But now, both the platforms have all the versions.
A big film releasing simultaneously on two platforms is not unheard of, but still remains a rarity. But as it happens, the Telugu film Bheemla Nayak is also set to stream on Disney+ Hotstar and Aha platforms from the same day this week.
Meanwhile, 83 had its world television premiere on Star Gold on March 20.
The film captures the journey of India's triumph at the 1983 World Cup. The Kapil Dev-led Indian team was rank outsiders going into the tournament. Yet they stood up against extreme odds and delivered at the grandest stage of all.
